All my Pleasure!

What all we do for pleasure....shopping, socilaising, facebooking, reading, sports, playing music, pottery, quilting, gardening, charity work....the list is really long, if you really make an effort to know it all.

Ever since we are small kids, we are told to develop hobbies and interests, in order to be able to enjoy our free time; although we are perfectly happy watching our TV shows or running up and down the swings in the park or reading our Superman comics books, or now a days, being glued to the PSPs and iPADs. So is pleasure a very personal thing or does it have to be 'approved'  for appropriateness?

As i grow older, i find there is nothing compared to the happiness that fills my heart when I see my children sleeping safely in their beds; there is no anticipation bigger than holding my favourite author's  brand new book in my hand and looking forward to my reading time; no laughter compared to the laughter when  my children share a joke with me; nothing warmer than the hugs i share with my family every time i meet them, nothing more enjoyable than a good good movie that matches my expectations....it ends up becoming so personal that i forget that somewhere it did all start with  my parents advising me too to cultivate appropriate interests! It does make a difference- like a clay that can only be moulded when it is soft; before it is 'set'- to be able to learn and enjoy life; even if it means each one to his own!

India's Dr. Oz?

I am all for inspiration- inspired writings, inspired movies, inspired lives...but where it is due, and where it is possible, credit should be given to the original creator. I happened to watch 'All is Well with Dr. Ahluwalia' on Colours today. I am wondering why does it look so similar to Dr. Oz's show? The format, the topics of discussion, the audience involvement, the friendly doctor hosting the show....except that Dr. Ahluwalia seems very young (there goes the 'experience' part of credibility!, and i missed the beginning so i am not sure who Dr. Ahluwalia exactly is excpet that he hosts this show!!). I waited until the end of the show to see the credits for any hint of a "Thank you for not copywriting your format", or "Sorry, we borrowed the format without permission", or acknowledgement "Yes, we did copy the format but then we are experts at that...remmeber KBC etc. etc.???". But the credits rolled so fast that i could not read anything at all.

What is next...Doctors (Indianised of course!) on a competitor channel? Any day now!!

Struggling with my Thank You note...

So, how do you thank God when you really really mean it, deep down in your heart? How do you say thanks for that one moment of sanity, that one fraction of a second, that one flash of thought in your mind? I am struggling.

That Thursday evening,  when i reversed my car in the Spinneys parking,  making sure that the car next to me, behind me, or around me was not reversing, and was about to turn left to get out of the parking, the Hummer appeared just inches away from the back seat window- where my son sat blissfully unaware with his eyes on the screen and ears plugged with earphones. I honked, and honked. The Hummer stopped immediately, and I went back into  my parking space. For a moment, i could not fathom where had this Hummer appeared from and how had it come so close to my car which was already out of the parking space.

This Hummer was reversing from three spaces away from me but for some reason had taken so much space coming out of the parking that it almost hit my car. I stopped the car and got out, ready to confront the driver for being so careless (even if Hummers do not have any beepers, they do have rearview mirror, don't they???). The front window rolled down and the Asian lady driver said, "I am sorry, i didnt see..."

"You were about to hit my kids!" I was angry.

"I am sorry I didnt see."

But I saw. I saw the white earphones dangling from her ears. Was she busy talking on her mobile, or listening to music, oblivious to the world around her?

Still shaking from the acknowledgement of possibility of the worst, I came back; looked at my son who was still busy watching his movie, hardly aware of what had just happened, or could have happened. I thanked God for that. I wouldn't have wanted him to get anxious or worried....but i could not get the sight of the Hummer backing and almost touching that window out of my mind...

I came home, and straight went to thank God....but nothing came out of my mouth except, "Thank you, thank you, thank you God...for saving us today".

I did not know what else to say for that flash of a second when I looked onto my left and saw the Hummer, or when i honked really hard; i could only shudder to think what could have happened if this had not happened!

Like the Ceat tyre ad says, "The roads are full of idiots...."